Phasecorrect & Waltersalas,
Once again, you are both bang on! Most of the rock stars for whom a death cult has emerged were in a severe creative decline by the time of their departure. More often than not, we find that rockers who do in fact live to a ripe old age lose their creative abilities long before they depart this mortal coil. The exceptions are rare.
I do believe that if were born 10-15 years later, I would have been an almighty Nirvana fan. Despite whatever backlash may now be in vogue, I have nothing but good things to say about Kurt Cobain. As for D.Boon, his death was the most tragic of all; more of a loss to music than even the demise of Ian Curtis. I think that D. Boon’s songwriting talents were, at the time of his premature demise, just starting to hit the sweet spot. He could have transformed the music of the 80's to much the same extent that Dylan did in the 60's. Would it be overly maudlin and sentimental for me to add that he was a kind, intelligent, and generous man?
As for MTV, phasecorrect: guilty as charged. MTV achieved the triumph of the look over the sound. Could anyone imagine the mega-talented, but not exactly bootylicious, songwriter Carole King getting even a look at a record contract in the today’s video music era. A big reason why the pop music of the 80's was so crap was the plain fact that bands that made bland music, but were oh so pretty, could now be wildly successful w/o any good songs. May I present Exhibit A: Duran Duran. Yup, the pop music of the 80's sucked, and phasecorrect has identified the guilty party.
Once again, you are both bang on! Most of the rock stars for whom a death cult has emerged were in a severe creative decline by the time of their departure. More often than not, we find that rockers who do in fact live to a ripe old age lose their creative abilities long before they depart this mortal coil. The exceptions are rare.
I do believe that if were born 10-15 years later, I would have been an almighty Nirvana fan. Despite whatever backlash may now be in vogue, I have nothing but good things to say about Kurt Cobain. As for D.Boon, his death was the most tragic of all; more of a loss to music than even the demise of Ian Curtis. I think that D. Boon’s songwriting talents were, at the time of his premature demise, just starting to hit the sweet spot. He could have transformed the music of the 80's to much the same extent that Dylan did in the 60's. Would it be overly maudlin and sentimental for me to add that he was a kind, intelligent, and generous man?
As for MTV, phasecorrect: guilty as charged. MTV achieved the triumph of the look over the sound. Could anyone imagine the mega-talented, but not exactly bootylicious, songwriter Carole King getting even a look at a record contract in the today’s video music era. A big reason why the pop music of the 80's was so crap was the plain fact that bands that made bland music, but were oh so pretty, could now be wildly successful w/o any good songs. May I present Exhibit A: Duran Duran. Yup, the pop music of the 80's sucked, and phasecorrect has identified the guilty party.